The Hollow Kingdom
by lindover
Summary: An unsuspecting Riku and Sora find themselves saddled with a shiny new mission. Set after the events of KH2
1. Chapter 1

The Hollow Kingdom

Disclaimer: Any and all series mentioned in this fan fiction are copyright their respective owners, none of which happen to include myself.

Warning: This will include spoilers and maybe even some bad language. Plz don't cry over it.

"It's all your fault, you know!"

"Well, it was your fault last time."

"Last time! I got hit by a CAR last time," the first boy huffed indignantly as he turned to glare back at his friend, who was casually strolling along as if they _weren't_ already ten minutes late.

The other boy smirked back, "Tch, are you still crying over that?"

"I AM NOT CRYING OVER ANYTHING." Sora screeched, face flushed as Riku walked past him, snickering.

"Hey, are you gonna pout all morning or do you want to get to class? We _are_ already late, you know," the taller boy risked a glance back at his friend and burst out laughing. Sora's cheeks had a way of puffing out when he was both pissed and frustrated, giving him the intimidating aspect of an angry squirrel.

Sora sighed and rolled his eyes at the sight of the other boy laughing. "Harharhar. C'mon, you can explain to my homeroom teacher why I'm late." Grabbing hold of the older boy's shirt, Sora began dragging Riku to his classroom door.

Scowling, Riku tried to brush off the offending hand. "Hey, I have my own class to get to. Just give her that kicked puppy look you're always practicing, and she'll let you-"

Sliding the classroom door open, Sora shoved the other boy into the class. "Sorry I'm late," he announced as he followed Riku in, "but it was all _his_ fault! So…" His voice trailed off as he noticed the entire classroom staring at him, and while that in itself wasn't odd…

"Oh! More transfer students?" The woman standing at the blackboard was the first to recover from the sudden interruption, "And so lively too!"

"What…" Sora began, only to be grabbed and shoved back out the door.

"Wrong class!" Riku announced as he exited and slammed the class door shut behind them.

The classroom remained silent for several moments before the sounds of excited whispers and shocked laughter erupted. Ms Misato scratched her head and frowned at the door before shrugging and turning back to the class with a triumphant pose, "Alright, back to LEARNING!"

As the students began to settle down, several pairs of eyes remained fixed on the door. "Wh…what was…" Orihime stuttered, eyes wide.

"What the HELL was up with that spiritual pressure!" Rukia finished, eyes narrowed.

There are doors, and then there are Doors. While the former generally lead a person to a place they seek, the latter have a somewhat different purpose. They are created, opened, and closed through Need. Where does a person really Need to be? What place truly Needs that person to be there? There are times when what one Needs and what one wants, what one _seeks_, vary so greatly that Need has to cheat a little to get a person through that Door. Need is a truly sneaky bastard when a situation calls for it, and nobody knows this better than a Keyblade Master.


	2. Chapter 2

The Hollow Kingdom

Disclaimer: Any and all series mentioned in this fan fiction are copyright their respective owners, none of which happen to include myself.

Warning: This will include spoilers and maybe even some bad language. Plz don't cry over it.

"What the HELL is up with this place!" Sora exclaimed once they were outside of the building.

Riku shrugged and frowned at the surrounding city, "Well, it certainly is different from the places we're usually taken to." Jungles? Sure. Dark, post apocalyptic cities? Several times. Santa Clause's workshop? Well, only if Sora was to be believed, and the kid could be a little flaky at times. But a perfectly normal classroom full of students and completely lacking in Heartless and Nobodies and any of the other big bad things Riku and Sora were supposed to take down? Never. "What do you think we're supposed to do with this?" he gestured at the relatively quiet, but not _too_ quiet, area around them.

Arms crossed and eyes thoughtful, Sora considered the possibilities. Two years ago, he had explained that as long as he had the Keyblade, his mission would never truly be over. And so it was. Ansem's experiments weren't the first to cause problems with creatures like the Heartless and Nobodies, but it was the first such experiment to span multiple worlds. Even with Xehanort's defeat and the destruction of Organization XIII, the power of Kingdom Hearts and the World of Darkness rippled through countless worlds and dimensions. The power inspired others to begin their own research on the heart and the darkness found within, and occasionally called a new Keyblade master to arms, as well.

While a situation a dire and widespread as Sora's first few had yet to crop up, the three Keybladers of the Destiny Islands were still summoned to assist other worlds in the fight against the Heartless and those who sought to use them. Usually, the summoning was something obvious and dramatic, with lightshows, background music, the whole works. And sometimes Sora would simply open the door to his bedroom and find a swamp full of monsters waiting for him. This was the first time, however, that he hadn't even noticed the change until well after stepping into another world.

"Well…" the younger boy scratched his chin. "Since it dropped us in a school, and there's nothing to fight…" his voiced trailed off, trying to think of a similar situation. "Oh! Maybe we just have to be in the school musical or something!" Sora placed his arms behind his head and beamed at his friend in triumph.

"That is…" Riku stared in disbelief, "…the stupidest thing I have ever heard." he snorted and gave Sora a lazy slap to the back of the head. "What kind of mission involves singing and dancing?"

Sora scowled and crossed his arms, "I'll have you know that I _have_ done musical missions before."

Riku's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "You? Singing? And you _succeeded_?"

Striking a pose, the other boy responded proudly, "With _excellence_!"

"That had to be the lamest mission ever."

Sora deflated and gave his friend a rueful smile, "Yeah, but it was fun in its own way. The rest of the time I had to play Shoulder to Cry On with an angsty teenage mermaid."

Grinning, Riku asked, "She hot?"

In response, Sora began to hula dance while singing, "Everything's hotter under the water, so come dancing!"

"Dumbass," laughing, the older boy grabbed Sora's hand and started dragging him up the street. "If it's something like that, we might as well get something to eat first."

"Your treat?" The brunette smiled hopefully up at Riku.

"No way!"

"Pleeeease?"

Riku rolled his eyes and looked down, only to be confronted with the afore mentioned "kicked puppy" look. "That," he snorted in disgust, "does not work on me."

"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaase?"

-------------

A half hour later, Sora sat back with a satisfied groan. Whatever may be up with this world, at least it had a decent hamburger stand. Riku gave the other boy and the empty plates surrounding him an irritable look, "Done already?"

"Yep!" Sora responded, cheerfully immune to Riku's brand of sarcasm. "…unless they some good desserts." Sora eyed the small menu at their table and reached over to sneak a peak at it.

Grabbing the other's wrist, Riku explained flatly, "They don't."

"Awww...but you didn't even look!" the younger boy complained.

"I didn't need to. They don't, you aren't, and we're going." Seriously, the kid was a total glutton when it was someone else paying.

Riku's statement was met with a long silence, and he refused to glance over at Sora. He knew what was waiting, and letting him use that look twice in a day would be simply asking for continued financial abuse and manipulation. The older boy would simply stare out the window until Sora gave up. He could win this. Was that sniffling? With a sigh, Riku turned to his friend, "Man Sora," he began, readying himself for Sora's most guilt inducing expression, "don't be such a…." and found himself confronted with Sora's most idiotic facial contortion to date.

"BLeeeeehhhhh!" Sticking his tongue out at Riku, Sora bounced up and grinned from ear to ear. "Who's the dumbass now, huh?"

Sea green eyes narrowed as the brunette practically danced away, singing another nonsensical song. Riku placed some munny on the table and followed after with an amused smirk, "Still you, Sora."

"Tch, like I'd cry over something stupid like dessert," the younger boy replied in disgust before beaming up at his best friend. "Thanks, though!"

Clamping an elbow around Sora's neck, Riku ground a fist into the boy's messy hair., "Yeah, just don't expect…"

"HEY! YOU!"

The two boys paused and stared back at the woman who had just burst from the burger joint.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF MONEY IS THIS! GET BACK HERE AND-"

They looked at each other with a brief grin and took off running.

"HEY! STOP!"

While munny is indeed the most common form of currency in the majority of worlds, it is by no means universally accepted.

------------

"You know…" Sora began, panting softly as he collapsed into a patch of grass, "if I had known we were gonna do that…"

Riku slumped down beside him and gave his friend a suspicious look,. Really, how was he supposed to know this place didn't accept munny? "Yeah?"

"…I would have gotten a dessert," Sora pouted as Riku burst out snickering.

"I would have had to roll you away."

"You calling me _fat_?"

"Yes."

Sora sat up and absently punched the other's shoulder before taking a good look at their surroundings. It was a good enough spot to stop and rest, a small park with only a few people in sight. An older man in a business suit walked by and gave them a sternly disapproving look. Sora just smiled back.

"Well," Sora grinned while Riku gave the man's retreating back the finger. "Since we're in our uniforms, not only are we guilty of dining and dashing, but skipping school as well?"

"Yep," Riku stood up and stretched with a self-satisfied smile. "This whole saving the world thing is obviously leading us down the path of delinquency. If we aren't careful we won't get into a good college."

"Yeah, that'd be a _real_ shame," rolling his eyes, Sora got up and began strolling back in the direction he fairly…almost, _maybe _sure that the school was in. "So guess we should probably hurry and save the world, then, yeah?"

"Tch, just as long as I don't have to sing and dance."

"You're just jealous of my moves."

"Yeah, especially that girly little hip swivel you have."

Caught up in their banter, the two boys didn't notice the strange man ina robe casually following after them. They _did _however notice the familiar-yet-not presence of the monster that was trying to sneak up on them. But until it attacked, neither boy was very concerned. It was shaping out to be fine day, and there was no need to end that just quite yet.


End file.
